Experiences
by SurreptitiousFox245
Summary: Being transported to the world of D.Gray-Man was NOT on their weekend to-do lists. Two girls get transported to the world of D.Gray-Man. No pairings, humor-fic. Written with TheBlackButler.
1. Prologue

Experiences

By: Rhiannon-WingedGoddessOfHorses and TheBlackButler

Disclaimer:

Rhiannon: Okay, we don't own -Man. We do, however, own Rain and Maddie, since they're supposed to be…well…us…Just without our real names…

BlackButler: I'm Maddie, and Rhiannon's Rain, just so you know. And we're going to take turns updating. This one's a prologue. The next chapter is going to be written by Rhiannon and in Rain's POV, the second chapter by me and in Maddie's POV, and so on and so forth.

Rhiannon: And this is supposed to be a crack-fic/humor-fic with possibly a bit of a plot. I'm not sure if I'll do pairings or if Maddie will choose to do pairings, but I'm thinking to try and avoid that to avoid arguments _on_ the pairings *cheeky grin*

Both: ENJOY!

Two thuds were heard throughout the cathedral of the Black Order. Feminine groans of pain echoed in synch and, finally, the alarm bells for intruders sounded.

"Ugh, you okay, Maddie?" A groggy voice droned as a brunette girl wearing a casual black dress shirt with the top button undone and the cuffs rolled up to her elbows secured by black strips of cloth buttoned to the sleeve sat up an rubbed the aching small of her back. Beside her, another groan rang out as a girl with jaw length; blond hair heaved herself up beside her friend. She was wearing a simple black tee-shirt with a grey sweater over that and jeans with tennis shoes on her feet.

"Fine. You?" The girl groaned rubbing the bottom right side of her back as the sciatica ached down her leg a few times before it ceased with her change in position. She nodded hesitantly, noticing the hall filling rapidly up with people who'd been awakened by the alarm now blaring in the girls' ears.

The brunette stood up, helping her friend up before she brushed her greenish-brown cargo pants off, "Where are we?" She muttered in the girl's ear and Maddie's eyes widened as she caught sight of an – oddly enough – white haired teenager who couldn't be much older than themselves. The brunette saw them two and her dark brown eyes also widened, the situation finally clicking in her brain.

She suddenly slapped her friend on the back of the head, "I told you not to go in the alley." The blond girl winced.

"Sorry," She whispered back, hesitant to say much out loud as a purple haired man walked forward, white hat and purple hair drawing him out from the other, sleepy occupants of the groggy crowd.

"Well, hello," he muttered the first part under his breath before breaking out into a wide, maniac-seeming grin that made the brunette and her friend shrink back, "what're your names?" A boy with a gruff exterior, blue tinged, long hair, and calculatingly cold blue eyes stepped up, rolling the aforementioned eyes in irritation as his hand clenched a blue-sheathed sword tightly.

His voice was deep, and the brunette realized quickly that he was around her and her friend's age, "You did not just ask them that, right? For all we know they could be Akuma!" The purple haired scientist – she'd gathered that much from his white lab coat – froze and cowered a little from the teen's intimidating stare.

"S-sorry, Kanda…I wasn't thinking," The brunette's eyes widened a slight bit subtly. She was sure that her friend and her weren't hallucinating…so it only left one thing…they were really in front of these people…people that weren't supposed to exist…

She shook her head to dispel her thoughts, "Rain." The scientist and swordsman whipped their heads towards her.

"Pardon?" The crazy purple haired man inquired and she rolled her eyes.

"My name," she elaborated irritation clear in her throat. "Actually, my name is Rene, but I go by Rain…Rain Grover." (Not my real first name, not my real last name. You're not going to get my real first name, nor are you going to get my real last name…I don't want creepers at my door -_-0)

Next to Rain, Maddie smiled, "Madison, call me Maddie…I'm not going to be as blunt as Rain and give you my last name…sorry." Rain sighed at her introduction, glaring aimlessly down at her black and white Danskins before looking back up, black hair claw/clip digging uncomfortably into her scalp.

"Oh, Maddie," Rain grumbled to herself, face-palming. She had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a good night…or week…or rest of her life…


	2. Chapter 1 VivaciousWolf245

I glanced around the small conference room nervously. While it was obviously a conference room, the air made it feel more like an interrogation/torture chamber. Next to me, Maddie fidgeted uncomfortably, as nervous as I was at the irritable glare Kanda was giving us. Next to him, Komui laughed quietly and nervously at the thick tension mounting in the air.

"Alright," I said finally, not able to take it much longer seeing as how I was hugging my laptop's case so tightly to my chest I was having trouble breathing, "I want to know why you're holding us here. I understand freaking you guys out in the middle of the night, but you don't believe what we told you, so what's the point in trying to lie and tell you what you want to hear?" I glowered at them, my moody gaze matching the murderous one aimed at me and Maddie from Kanda. Leaning half asleep against a wall was Allen and in a chair next to him dozing off was Lenalee. Lavi wasn't anywhere to be found and I wondered with slight horror just _why_ he wasn't. I didn't want the creeper bookman to sneak up behind me. The thought didn't bode pleasant mental images.

Maddie grumbled next to me, placing her head on the table and using her arms as a pillow, "Not that you'd believe what you wanted to hear either. You guys are impossible!" Inwardly, I thanked her silently that she hadn't gone on a fangirl rampage over Kanda and was keeping her cool. That was one thing that I didn't need to deal with on top of entering an anime universe.

"Well, it's not so much they're impossible as they are annoyingly stubborn, but that's not the point," I said, rolling my eyes as I tilted my chair back on two legs, crossing my arms and glaring at the ceiling as if it was the slab of plaster's fault that we were in this mess in the first place. "Again, I'll even reiterate it; _we_ shouldn't have taken that alleyway in the first place. I told you something felt off about it and, hey, low and behold, next thing we know we're pinned to a wall by some unseen force and falling through it!" I mock gasped and Maddie shot her head up, glaring at me with hazel eyes.

"I thought it was a shortcut!"

"Sure, a shortcut! I'll bet you're not thinking that now, are you, considering we're _not_ at Marielle's house?" I rolled my eyes, propping my head on my hand with my elbow on the table. Komui looked frightened.

The purple haired scientist risked a nervous glance at a very irritated Kanda who looked like he was about to chop all of our heads off with Mugen, and, to be honest, I wouldn't have put it past him, "Settle down, girls, for the love of God settle down!" He was frightened and that mixed with his phrase made me burst out laughing.

I could tell that I'd taken everyone in the room by surprise save for a softly snoring Lenalee and the half asleep Allen when Komui asked timidly, "…what?" I laughed a few more times; wiping tears of mirth from my eyes as I straightened my chair and sat up straighter.

"Nothing, yo-your phrase…I can't believe you actually said that!" I chortled a few more times. "Sorry, I don't believe in God; I'm Agnostic." This caused the two already wide awake occupants of the room to blink at me in surprise and Allen to perk up completely.

"You're Agnostic?" The white haired teen asked me incredulously and I rolled my eyes.

"No," I said sarcastically, "really? Of course I am, you midget, I just said I was! Jeez, are you deaf as well as short?" He fell over and I could see the numerous people in the room, save Lenalee who was still sleeping, restraining themselves from laughing hysterically. Well, Kanda was probably trying not to chuckle, but for him that amounted to hysterical laughter anyway.

"Anyway," Komui said after a few minutes of raucous laughter from him and Lavi, the red head having snuck into the room at my sarcastic comment, "We need to focus on how you got here. Where are you girls from?"

Maddie answered before I could get the chance, "U.S. of A. You know, America. Land of the free, home of the brave. That place." If I'd have been able to, I'd have sweatdropped. We didn't even know for sure what time period it was, let alone know if America was formed yet…

Allen quirked an eyebrow, "I've heard of America, but I'm not sure it can be considered 'Land of the free'. It is, after all, a constitutional monarchy…" Maddie's head snapped up and mine swiveled around violently to meet Allen's eyes.

I stood up, outraged, "What! We're not a fucking _monarchy_; we're a damn democratic republic! What history book did you get your wacky information from and where can I go to burn it?" Lavi jumped up in the protest to the mention of burning a book, Kanda grew even more irritated if it was possible, Allen shrunk back at my glare, Maddie tried to pull me back in a sitting position that wasn't as intimidating, and Komui was freaking out about my…erm…_colorful_ language.

A commotion began that Maddie made sure not to become a part of, which involved me yelling at Lavi that his sources were wrong – though I doubted they were, considering he was a bookman – me yelling at Komui to shove it and that I could swear if I wanted to and that he wasn't my father so he could stay out of my business, and me yelling at Allen that being Agnostic wasn't a crime. Basically, it was a lot of me yelling and Maddie trying to pass of that she didn't know me.

"Will you all just shut up!" Kanda roared suddenly, glaring at everyone, namely me since it was mostly my fault, and the others obediently sat back down. I glared back defiantly, not sitting until my blond friend tugged on my shirt to convince me to, and even then I didn't break my glare. Kanda closed his eyes and sighed, moving his glare from me towards Komui and the purple haired scientist pushed his glasses up on his face nervously before he resumed to interrogating – I mean, asking questions.

"What happened? You said you fell through a wall?"

I could tell that he was confused, "Something slammed into us." Maddie supplied helpfully and I nodded in agreement.

"We were going over to a friend's house for her birthday. We were going to spend the night, but we had to walk there since none of our parents could give us a ride there and my car was in the shop for repairs since the alternator belt decided to go on it again. Anyway, we were walking and she decided, sorry, _we_ decided to cut through an alley because it seemed like a shortcut. Something, it kind of felt like a large arm, slammed into us. We hit the wall, but we didn't hit it. More like we went through it, and the next thing I know, we were falling through your ceiling. I don't remember anything else, and now we're trapped in this strange anime-verse where the United States of America aren't exactly the United States of America anymore." They looked at me weirdly for mentioning "anime-verse" but didn't get the chance to speak before Maddie spoke up.

"I remember a gravelly voice saying something about innocence, if that helps any," Komui must've exploded.

He was jumping around doing a happy dance and Kanda looked about ready to pull Mugen on him, "That explains how you got through! One of you holds innocence!" I blinked at him.

"How?" I asked and everyone froze, including me as I realized my slip up. We weren't supposed to tell them that we knew. I'd just given it away…damn.

Kanda's glare increased and Komui became startlingly serious, "You know about innocence?" Maddie and I looked at each other nervously. Well, Maddie looked more angry than nervous, but I ignored it and, with a sigh, nodded.

"Yes," I said, "I don't think we're originally from her, if falling through your ceiling and a wall wasn't proof enough. Where we're from there's a…_cartoon_, which is a show made of moving pictures, animations that…well, it has the whole exorcists, Millennium Earl, innocence thing in it." They looked at me like they really didn't believe me and I held up my computer in its case, remembering that I'd recently gotten the series on disc. I had one of the first discs in my drive and could show them.

"I can show you! I have it on my computer!" More blinks at the mention of a computer, but I ignored them and pulled my Alienware laptop out of the backpack and hooked the mouse up to it that I usually used. Komui nearly went ballistic when I turned it on.

He was crying tears of joy, saying something about experimenting on it to see how it worked and my face went white as a sheet and I hugged the piece of advanced technology close to my chest, stroking the ribbed lid possessively, "Nuh-uh! You will not come within fifty feet of my laptop carrying even a damn screwdriver or I'll murder you in your sleep, got it?" Komui shrunk back as I started up my DVD player, sat back, and watched the show…quite literally.

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><p>Rhiannon: So...how'd I do? Funny enough?...yeah, didn't think so -_-0 The next chapter will be by TheBlackButler, so keep an eye tuned for that!<p>

R&R!

~WingedGoddess


	3. Chapter 2 TheBlackButler

Hello there to people across the world who like DGM! Since my introduction in the prologue wasn't written by me…I'll do it formally…

I'm Maddie, or more formally known as TheBlackButler here on the site. I more commonly write Hetalia, Bleach, and DGM fanfictions.

Now I know Rhiannon doesn't like pairings, but I'm more worried about myself…because since she doesn't like pairings, she's better to stay to the canon. However I'm a huge fan of Lavi/Yuu… -dodges bullets of Yullen fangirls-

This will be done in switching POVs, like Rhiannon said. And I'm probably not doing pairings…-sobs- I'm only up to about 15 volumes in English at the moment so don't yell at me. And I will take the pride in saying I introduced Rhiannon to DGM. –pose- And I'm pretty happy—for the time being she wrote my part pretty well.

I don't do disclaimers, so let's jump right in…

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><p>I'd never seen Komui or Rain freak out so bad. He'd practically chased Rain all the way around the room, tripping on Kanda's foot once or twice, to get to her laptop. Everyone had to watch the antics until Lenalee woke up and sent Komui back to his room til morning. Kanda was long gone by then.<p>

With Komui locked up—er, safe in his room for the night, Lenalee took us to a pair of empty rooms found across the food hall in the Order. We weren't going to be treated like Akuma, but with the risk still available for that, Finders were positioned outside our room.

"Rain," I hissed quietly, knowing the Finders could be listening. "Rain," my voice was more strained this time, as if I were afraid it'd echo. A groan filled the air and the sound of springs creaking in protest as she rolled over.

"What…? Maddie, its 1 am…" She puffed, not bothering to open her eyes.

I groaned in protest as well, sliding out of my bed (with another loud creak) to crawl over to hers. Rain's eyes opened into slits, and she immediately glared at the t-shirt I was wearing. "Get on some more fucking clothes."

"Never mind that," I sighed, looking at her. "How are we gonna get back to America? I mean, well, our world?"

She sighed, sitting up in her rickety bed, still fully clothed. I sat next to her, arms crossed for warmth. "I don't know…I don't really think we can go back through the ceiling again to go back."

"What about Namine? And her party…and Katt, and Isaac, and everyone else…"

"I don't know, Maddie, okay? Just calm down and try to get some sleep…I mean, come on. How often do you get to talk to your favorite anime characters?"

"In my dreams," I sighed, hugging my pillow to my chest. Rain hit her forehead with her palm. "Besides, this could be an alternate galaxy created by innocence that we got sucked into. For all we know, this is real."

"Which means…"

"Which means we should consider ourselves part of this world, for the time being," I finish her sentence with a curt nod. "Meaning we can die at anytime. Be prepared."

"Now go to sleep…" She rolled over, face down in her pillow.

The bed screamed as I slid off of it, curling into my own. I hated single beds…I could never roll around at all without the fear of falling off.

"Hey, Rain…?" I mumbled, nuzzling into my pillow. She groaned in acknowledgement. "Can I have your pillow…?"

Rain turned to me with a questioning look, her eyes creased with fatigue. "You have one."

"Well, I kind of need two…one to sleep on and one to hug…" My voice came out scratchy, and she stared at me for a moment.

In response, she rolled over and threw the pillow at my face.

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><p>They knocked on our door at 7 a.m. Only 6 hours of sleep…Rain would not be in a good mood this morning.<p>

As predicted, she groaned loudly and stayed put. The Finders knocked louder this time, harder.

I snatched my wrinkled jeans from the floor, sliding them on as they kept rapping at the door. "C-Coming...now Rain, stay calm, alright?"

"…Are we still in the Black Order?" She grumbled into the mattress.

"…Mhmm," I hummed nervously, sliding on my hoodie for warmth.

"Damn it," Rain sighed, rolling up and out of bed. She stood up, then looked at me and glared. "I hate that you're taller."

"Deal with it, you're more mature anyway," I sighed, looking to the door that was about to fall, practically. "H-Hold o—"

"We're coming, we're coming!" Rain shouted over my nervous voice. She pushed open the door, nearly knocking down one of the Finders. "What do I have to do to get some coffee around here?"

Lenalee poked out from behind the door, smiling brightly. She seemed like such a morning person sometimes. "Good morning," she beamed politely, holding out a tray with two cups of coffee. Rain almost snatched her cup, greedily swallowing a third of it down before Lenalee offered a cup to me.

"No thank you…I don't drink coffee," I mumbled as polite as I could.

"…What type is this?" Rain asked Lenalee, peering into the mug.

"Blue mountain coffee," she sighed, cheerful mask pulled down with a huff. Lenalee began walking through the hall, asking us to follow her. "It's my brothers…don't tell him, alright? This stuff is imported and it's very expensive."

"It's good," Rain almost sang, happily draining the rest of the mug. Lenalee responded with a cheerful smile.

Komui and Rain definitely would not get along. They're far too similar…

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><p>R&amp;R!<p> 


	4. Chapter 3: VivaciousWolf245

Hi guys! Rhiannon here! Now it's my turn to wreak havoc…I mean…write the next chapter! Now, what Maddie said in the last chapter wasn't entirely true. I don't mind pairings, and my favorite pairings for DGM is Kanda/OC and Allen/Lenalee. I work better with writing OC pairings, it's just I didn't want an argument to start on who would be with who. Might, MIGHT work that out later in the story. Dunno…MIGHT…

Anyway, since Maddie won't do disclaimers, I'm going to save our behinds and say: Maddie and I don't own DGM or anything else possibly mentioned in the chapters. Don't sue us, for I know that I at least don't have any money…thank you!

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><p>Rain POV<p>

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><p>I stared at the dining room, forcing myself not to drool. Lenalee had come to our room at seven this morning – thankfully, with coffee, though it wasn't how I usually drank it, I didn't think they had creamer yet – and taken us across the circular hallway to the dining hall…and I swore I was in heaven when I was told that Jerry would fix <em>anything<em> that Maddie or I asked for.

My stomach growled in protest to its lack of nourishment and I nearly stumbled trying to get to the counter, "Ah, you're new! What can I get for ya'?" Jerry asked and I took a deep breath, causing the people around me to balk.

"Three pancakes, bacon, three scrambled eggs, four waffles, beef ramen, two bowls of steamed rice, one bowl of fried rice, another cup of coffee, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, and teriyaki chicken," I said all in one breath and Jerry blinked at me before laughing.

"Oh, boy, you're just like Allen!" He laughed, dancing away from me and to the cooking appliances behind him. "Coming right up!" I turned around and saw Lenalee, Lavi – he'd walked in and gotten into line behind us – and Allen looked at me in amazement. Maddie just sighed and pushed past me as my ordered dishes piled up.

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, "You must not be that hungry today…that's less than you usually eat…" The people behind us fell over and I resisted a smirk, however true the statement was.

I just shrugged, taking my food and walking over to where Lenalee had directed me to, "Not really. Too much crap going on for me to think about food. Hunter's birthday was in a few days, anyway." I didn't delve much into the subject of my soon-to-be four year old niece. It'd set in last night that I wouldn't get to see her fourth year, and I hadn't fallen asleep until five thirty in the morning. Not that I was going to tell anyone that, but it was the point.

Maddie's eyes softened as passed me a plate that I hadn't realized had been missing, "Rain…I'm sorry…I hadn't thought…" I shot her a glare, telling her to shut up but she continued stuttering, so I had to vocalize it.

"Maddie…shut up," I said icily and she did as she was asked. It was only then did I notice the myriad of plates in front of her filled with pancakes, bacon, cereal, and other breakfast foods. I dug into my food, the other sitting around Maddie and I and doing the same, all but Allen with normal portions.

Within seconds, I'd devoured my breakfast and was cleaning up my trash when Kanda brushed past the table and angrily said, "Komui wants to see all of you." I shot him a glare which was sent back before grasping Maddie's arm and hauling her up to drag her behind me. The other exorcists quickly leaped in front and began to lead the way, fearing that I'd be like Allen and get hopelessly lost. I scowled at the implied impairment, but went along with it considering that I didn't know where his office was in the first place.

The scientist nervously met us outside of his office door, shrinking away from the cold scowl I directed towards him, feelings still temperamental from his little rampage about my laptop, "If you girls are going to be staying here and not be exorcists, we need to fit you for uniforms." The last word echoed as Maddie and I froze. The uniform meant a skirt…something the both of us loathed with a passion.

"…pardon?" I growled, eyes flashing dangerously as Maddie crossed her arms, sighing and elbowing me painfully in the ribs. "Ow, what the hell was that for, Austria!" The exorcists and scientist looked at me weirdly for the nickname but brushed it off.

Maddie rolled her eyes, not noticing Kanda walking up the door as she used my country nickname that we were trying to keep a secret, "Stop being impolite, Japan!" I got the look she was giving me and turned away to sulk when I noticed Kanda. I growled under my breath. I was saving that so I could see if I could get a reaction out of him…damn it…well, at least I still had the fact that I _spoke_ Japanese. Ah, I loved annoying people, I thought as Kanda began speaking softly to Komui about some mission he was being sent on. I tuned it out.

"Whatever," I grumbled, understanding that they could do just about anything to us, including kicking us out of the tower to fend for ourselves. Komui laughed nervously as the others around us looked exasperated.

"Alright," we were led through the room towards two separate tailors in two separate rooms. I was measured by some elderly lady. I saw the skirt for the uniform and sighed, snatching it up and thinking of ways to modify it when I heard a scream of protest from Maddie's room and rushed out to see her holding a fist dangerously close to the tailor's head, showing that she'd narrowly missed punching the poor lady.

"I will NOT wear a skirt, old lady!" I'd have sweatdropped if it would've been physically possible and walked over to her, pinching the nerve on her neck that would cause her to cringe. I got the desired result and glared at her, not releasing my hold. (Don't own the Vulcan Nerve Pinch…that's a Star Trek thing…)

I growled, "Deal with it, okay?" She winced and nodded. I let her go, turning around to leave the room without an escort, exorcists and two tailors staring after me nervously.

I found the room, surprisingly, without incident and threw on my uniform before staring at it in disgust and ripping it off, finding scissors, needle, and a spool of thread in one of the drawers. I set off to work, cutting and re-sewing, and that was how Maddie found me three hours later when she walked in, no uniform bunched in her hand like I'd thought there'd be.

"No uniform?" I questioned through the pins I held in my teeth and she shook her head, plopping down on the rickety bed that screeched its protest quite loudly and in such a high frequency that it made me cringe and almost prick my tongue on one of the pins.

She sighed, "Nope. I argued for about an hour about the skirt before getting tired of that old lady and storming out like you did. I got lost though…managed to find my way back by following the smell of food." She turned dreamy and that was how I knew to leave her alone. Instead, I held up my completed handiwork and admired it for a moment before slipping into an adjourning bathroom to change without giving Maddie any explanation.

I'd changed the jacket so that cut off, showing my stomach and I'd put knee-length black shorts on under the skirt and wore skin-tight, slightly heeled (I couldn't get away from the heels, believe me, I'd tried) black boots that ended mid-calf. The sleeves billowed and covered my hands since I'd left them un-rolled and my hair was pulled back in a twist with the black claw-like clip that I usually kept it in, long bangs swept over my left eye, brushing against my shoulder with the slightest wave causing the strands to curl by my jaw. I put in my skeleton earrings that I was so fond of and put my grandmother's crucifix around my neck. I may have been Agnostic, but that didn't mean I didn't have respect for the heirloom…well, really, it wasn't an heirloom, I'd gotten it when she'd died, but I saw it that way and didn't hold a grudge against it just because of what it represented.

I walked out and Maddie looked at me for a minute before shaking her head and laying back down, turning off the light by her bed as she tried to fall asleep, "It suites you." I shrugged, slipping back into the bathroom to change into the sweatpants and loose tee-shirt that I had been using as pajamas and sliding into my bed which creaked and groaned in protest. I'd finally noticed the time as seven and wondered deftly how it could've been that late. I must've been sewing for longer than I thought I had been.

"G'night Rain," Maddie mumbled, already half asleep and I stared at the ceiling, not tired in the slightest but knowing that if I was forced to get up at seven again, I needed my sleep.

"Oyasumi."

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><p><strong><em>Oyasumi<em>**- Goodnight in Japanese

Final Words: Yes, I do speak Japanese (at least, mostly. Still learning a bit) and, yes, I do like messing with people's minds, and considering Kanda's so...standoffish, picking on him and making him snap is going to be my character's main goal. Hence, the saving letting them all know Rain speaks Japanese just to mess with Kanda's head.

As for the nicknames...Maddie's obsessed with Hetallia, so we use the counties' names from there as nicknames for certain people. I'll try to keep you straight on who's whom. Rain's Japan (obviously) and Maddie's Austria.

R&R!

~WingedGoddess


	5. Chapter 4 TheBlackButler

Pardon the old ladies as tailors in the last chapter—Rhiannon didn't know that Johnny's a tailor.

Ah, Johnny, you silly little representative of America, you.

I like reviews, BTW. And as for Rhiannon, she submits REEALLY fast…I mean, damn. Even I can't do that, so I'll just take my time with my writings…I might not update fast, I have other fics to work on, y'know.

Oh, I forgot to mention in my last chapter, _yes_, Rhiannon and I do have a friend we call Namine.

P-Pff, I am not _obsessed_ with Hetalia... I'm backing down a bit...but yeah, Rhiannon and I both have country names in that case. It was 8th grade. Long year.

Don't do disclaimers.

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><p>"…and this is the research room…again…"<p>

I sighed, looking to the next door, only to read off the title and find it isn't the one I'm looking for. Two hours of searching to get lost.

_What was I thinking? 'Go on, Madison, wake up early before Rain and head to the library.' Brilliant plan. I even know that I have no sense of direction._

It was probably around eight thirty by now. That meant Rain was up and stuffing her face by herself in the dining hall. And with no one to watch her portions or keep her from getting into fights…

"Damn it, where the hell is the library in this place?" I shouted to the empty hallway, hoping to get a response.

At this point, who knows what time it is? All I knew was that it was probably too late to get some breakfast after I finally made my way out of here. The hallways were beginning to fill up and I was getting nervous. The words on the doors began to look like gibberish. My head was spinning wildly, and my stomach growled in protest of emptiness.

Something sent me stumbling backwards and I fell into the sea of people. They all parted around me, simply ignoring my pitiful self face down on the floor. I sat up, rubbing my arms and looking all around me. A redhead stared back down.

"Hey, weren't you with that chick that was getting all the food in the dining hall yesterday?" He questioned, cocking his head to emphasize his curiosity.

"Don't remind me," I muttered to myself, standing slowly and moving to the side to avoid the crowd. I took note of his spiky, flaming hair, orange scarf, and low green-and-black headband before vocalizing quietly, "Yep, that's Lavi." Lavi questioned what I'd mumbled, but I shook it off, instead saying, "Sorry about...you know, popping into your dimension. We have no idea how it happened."

"Psh, why would you apologize for that?" He laughed, his voice now becoming crystal clear, even over the roar of the crowd. I was fascinated by it. "Anyway, you looked really lost. Where were you headed?"

"Um, the library," I stuttered, cheeks slowly turning red. _You know, you never realize how good-looking an anime character is until you're right there... _"I wanted to read up some things on akuma. I know a little, but not a lot. I just want to make sure I'm not the completely useless one here..." A nervous laugh came out of my mouth, and I awkwardly fidgeted with my long sleeves.

"Ooh, I see. Sounds good. I have to go there every day, you know," he rolled his green, childlike eyes in protest. "Crazy old panda makes me memorize my records. I'll take you there now. Get it over with for the day."

"Thank you," a smile came onto my face, and I'm positive it was absolutely goofy with adoration. It was the kind of smile you give to someone you really like, but you go overboard and end up looking completely love struck. I've accidently pulled a few of those in my time.

Although I was grateful for being showed the library, the walk there was just awkward. Just for me, though. Lavi was such a chatterbox and got along with just about everyone naturally (though that doesn't mean everyone got along with him...Kanda, for example) that I had a hard time keeping up. I had a few of those kinds of friends back in my dimension, and as fun as they were, it was still hard relating to what they liked. Sure, a little easier to talk about it, but relating was a different story. When we arrived, I made a mental note of where the library was in my head.

"...and so he punches me right in the jaw!" Lavi finished exasperatedly. I noted along the way of how animated Lavi really is. He talks very loud and open and emphasizes his words with his hands. And he loves how he talks. In fact, I'd come to the conclusion that he talked loud just to hear his own voice. With a large huff of a sigh, he slouched and turned to me. "Can you believe that stiff Kanda?"

"I can imagine," I laughed, humoring him. "He's very...well, shut out from everyone else. Anyway, thank you again for showing me here."

"Not a problem! What were you and your friend's names again...?" He turned serious suddenly, listening to me intently. His eyes flicker across my body, taking in every detail of my appearance, mentally noting everything about me. The Bookman in him revealed itself, and he heavily anticipated my answer.

"My name is Maddie, and my friend's name is Rain." At this, a grin formed on his face as he hid the evidence of ever studying me. He thanked me with an almost comedic shake of my hand, bounding off towards the other end of the library, where Bookman harshly greeted him with a textbook to the head.

Alone once more, I managed to find my way to a large section of akuma history. All the known records of the Order's knowledge of them down to a T. I was going to be helpful. I had that decided. Usually, Rain was the brave one, but this time, I would step forward. I just had to learn my stuff first...and figure out how to get to the library within several minutes of waking up.

As I found a couple of good books to start with, I felt some eyes trained on me. I turned several times to find finders and exorcists alike staring me down, following my every move, much like Lavi did earlier. I pretended not to notice. Instead, I pulled out a notepad Komui lent me and began writing down nearly everything I saw in the books. It was getting late in the day, maybe around 3 or 4, when I heard my stomach screech at me. The day caught up with me and I realized I hadn't eaten _anything_, and decided to wrap up quick and finish up the section I was on.

_Inter-Dimensional Akuma_

_One of the Earl's best weapons, the inter-dimensional akuma are rarely used, as they are hard to produce compared to a normal akuma. Their strength matches that of a level 3; the weaker ones are level 2. The Millennium Earl uses the essence from the destroyed innocence he has collected and opens an inter-dimensional portal, opening him up to one universe at random. He then picks a/several human(s) and offers them the deal to bring a loved one back, then takes their bodies once they are dead. The Earl then erases any memories of previous encounters with akuma, letting them believe they lead a normal human lifestyle. After enough innocence essence is once again collected by the Earl, he opens the portal to the same dimension and takes them into his._

_The inter-dimensional akuma acts much like a time bomb. Most of the time, their personalities when in human form are extremes – raging, extremely timid, forever the optimistic, constantly depressed, etc. In society, they would be considered outcasts or the odd ones. They often like being the center of attention, and are genuinely human in terms of personality. In fact, this type of akuma is not aware they are machines made by the Earl. They believe they are normal in every way. After a certain amount of time in the Earl's dimension, the akuma begin to break down. They experience mood swings, and after more time, they transform into full-blown akuma. It is the Earl's idea of a sneak attack on exorcists and the Black Order in general. There isn't a wide history of the inter-dimensional akuma, but they are highly dangerous and need to be avoided at all costs._

Reading all of that was a shock. I scanned it over and over, ignoring my stomach's screams to get up and moving. From a different dimension taken into this dimension. Extreme personalities. Considered weird in modern society. Like being the center of attention. We were radiating the symptoms.

That couldn't be true. I had to be reading a bunch of bullshit. I had memories, I had a life back home, I had people I loved and had fallen in love with, and I couldn't let this happen! Rain and I weren't akuma. I would never serve the Earl. And in my dimension, if this entire world was just a comic book (that both of us happened to know about), the Earl would have never chosen us! The Earl was a devious mastermind, and he wouldn't dare make such a daring move! A daring, yet genius move...

Forget the food; I had to tell Rain about this _now_.


	6. Chapter 5: VivaciousWolf245

**Experiences**

By: VivaciousWolf245 & TheBlackButler

Disclaimer: Don't own DGM!

Quick Author's Note: Yeah, it's Rhiannon! It's quick, I know, but, as Maddie said, I'm quick. I hope you like, and I will say that I DID change my username. I also have a few other stories up if you want to take a look at them. They're on this account, seeing as how I don't have another one, and I would appreciate some feedback. Thanks!

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><p>To say that I had been seriously pissed off when I'd awoken to find Maddie gone had been an understatement, but I brushed it off admirably as I threw on my Exorcist uniform. Just because we were the only two people from our dimension didn't mean that we had to be joined at the hip. Yeah, the familiarity was there, but it didn't have to be <em>only<em> there. With a slightly haughty huff, I opened the door out into the circular hallway, glaring at the Finder outside of the door so harshly, he shivered. I could make other friends…maybe. I never had been known very well for my social skills. I was always timid, quiet, and shy around people that I didn't know. I only talked to people if they approached me first. I was smart, scarily so, not to brag, with a partially eidetic memory. That labeled me a geeky nerd with the "popular" crowd, and so I only had my little rag-tag bad of misfits as friends. It was okay. It didn't matter. Over the years, they had become my surrogate family.

All the better for it, I assumed. My mother had psychological problems and my father traveled for work a lot. It wasn't that I wasn't close to them – far from it, my parents were practically my best friends. It was just that, because of it, I didn't get out much. I was okay with it. I was shy. I was a recluse.

I was an outcast.

I nearly laughed out loud as I joined the somewhat long breakfast line before Jerry's caged confines. I was starting to very nearly quote "Speak" and I needed to stop. Ordering a huge breakfast would cure any problems starting to form in my head, and possibly a good fight if I could find one. The good thing about being in an alternate dimension was that, hey, no parents! I could get into fights and not have to worry about the repercussions stressing them out! I kinda' liked the change, the fact that it was my favorite anime-verse notwithstanding. As I ordered my monstrosity of a breakfast, I figured that the only way to make any of this better was if there was a TV-verse that had a crossover of Criminal Minds and NCIS. I nearly drooled at the prospect, though it might have had something to do with the steaming stack of pancakes situated under my nose as I devoured it.

When I heard the tell-tale scoff from behind me and a mutter of "disgusting", I froze, and sent the iciest glare I could manage towards Kanda, "Beg pardon, sword boy?" Kanda narrowed his eyes as the hall became deathly silent. I noticed that Allen and Lavi had walked in and the latter looked as excited about a prospective fight as a kid in a proverbial candy store.

"You're weak," he said simply, and I let out a sarcastic, barking laugh.

"_Et je _vous_ déteste, mon ami_," I replied as I brushed past him, patting him on the shoulder as I did so. The crowd "ooh-ed" like school kids and I, irritated, wondered just how old they really were.

At Kanda's incessant glare and no response, I laughed once more, "What? Oh! What's this? Never bothered to learn a language aside from English, did you? Oh, well, I wouldn't worry too much. French isn't all that hard to learn. Damn, though, you freaking _live_ outside Paris. That's just kinda' sad."

Kanda growled, "I hate people like you, who think you know everything. You'll be dead the moment they send you out. You don't even have Innocence! I don't see why they bothered to give you a uniform!"

"I'm just that awesome, didn't you hear?" I sniped sarcastically, waving my hand nonchalantly. "Innocence, Shminnocence, I say. There are other ways to fight than to be right out there. Verbally, for instance! It works wonders, can't you tell?" I sang happily as I disposed of my trash.

"You're so annoying!" He retaliated weakly, and I couldn't help but notice how all of his comebacks fizzled in comparison to my own. He needed some serious coaching in good ole' fashioned sarcasm. "Nobody asked for your opinion. You're weak." I noticed, too, that he spoke a lot more than the Anime or Manga let on. Then again, it wasn't as if they actually knew him.

I shrugged as I brushed past him towards the door where Lavi and Allen were standing, "Oh well! You may not have asked my opinion, but you got it anyway! That's karma for ya', there, buddy!" I had to duck out the door as a plate was sent crashing my way. Lavi bid Allen good luck as he entered the room.

"Nuh-uh!" the bookman protested, nearly crawling behind me to try and protect himself. "I'm not going to go in there while Yu's _that_ riled up! I've never seen him so mad that he talks _that_ much! Good luck, Moyashi, but I'm not signing my death wish so soon!" Allen growled at the nickname, but I furrowed my eyebrows.

I paused for a moment, "Isn't it warrant and not wish?"

Lavi shrugged, "Probably. Hey, you're Rain, right?" I waved at Allen as he walked into the room, Lavi and I walking around the circular hallway.

I nodded, "Yeah. Have you seen Maddie, by any chance? She wasn't in the room this morning and her exploring by herself is…_daunting_, to say the least." I glanced up at him and wondered why the hell he sent so many people drooling. Yeah, he was standing in front of me, but to everyone in my dimension, he was an anime character. Fictional. I didn't get all the hype about wanting to be with someone who wasn't real. Personally, I didn't find anything special about him or Kanda or Allen or any of them. They were people. What was so special about them?

"I did," Lavi confirmed, grasping me out of my thoughts. "She was lost going to the library, so I showed her how to get there. She said that she wanted to do some research. Did you want me to show you the way there, too?" I scoffed and laughed as we turned a corner to go up a level. A walk would probably do me some bit of good.

"Are you kidding? She's doing something intellectual of her own free will. I walk in there and she'll make me do it before promptly running off! I'm sorry, no thank you! I've never had to study a day in my life, I'm not about to start because she's lazy. 'Sides, she needs some excitement. Maybe she'll find something about why the hell we went dimension-hopping in the first place. It's irking me. It shouldn't have happened by physics, yet it did. Then again, I suppose Innocence defies physics, wouldn't it?"

Lavi nodded and we began a whole conversation about the physics behind Innocence and existence, me following well and not really shocked to find him leading most of the conversation. I could be talkative when I wanted to be, but Lavi really beat me out of it. It didn't matter to me. I was content to just listen to his theories. They were rather interesting.

It was nearing around five o'clock in the afternoon when we found ourselves walking fairly close to the library, "…I mean, it _could_ be that solar systems are atoms, but, there's the problem of proving it. You'd have to downscale, I guess." I nodded, shrugging at Lavi's deduction – it was one I'd made on my own many years ago.

"The only problem is that there aren't microscopes that can go down _that_ far. I did read that they found small bits of matter circling some protons, like a moon, but that's just the thing – they can't get any closer to make out anything other than that it's a sphere and it's circling another sphere that's circling a nucleus. I say, give it another five hundred years or so," I finished with a laugh. Lavi looked as if he was going to say something back to me, but he was stopped short by a screech of my name from behind us down the hall.

"RAIN!" I winced at Maddie's voice, pegging her as seeking me out to do her research for her. I slowly slid my feet on the stone flooring so that I was facing her. She looked worn out, out of breath, and very frazzled. I furrowed my eyebrows in concern. It wasn't like her to let stuff just get to her.

I put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off, pieces of her blond hair falling into her eyes, "It's bad. It's really, really, _really_ bad. We're in trouble. Of course, I don't think it's true one bit, but, Central might not believe us. I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry, Rain. I wish it wasn't true!" I cocked my head to the side after shooting a sidelong glance at Lavi, only to find him in a complete bookman-observation state and I didn't have the heart to bring him out of it. He looked completely in his element, like me when I was profiling someone out of boredom.

"Maddie!" I shouted to stop her rambling and she looked up at me expectantly. "Calm down, now. Slowly, tell me what's wrong." She took a deep breath as if to steady her nerves before grabbing my forearm tightly in a nervous grip.

Her hazel eyes were serious and that in itself frightened me a little bit, though I was careful not to show it outwardly, "It'd be easier for me to show you. Come on!"

I motioned for Lavi to follow us as we took off into the library. To say I was shocked to see books and notes piled high on one of the tables was an understatement. I was half expecting to find Bookman behind the pile, hidden by the books. When I learned that it was Maddie's workstation, I about had a heart attack.

I nearly was gaping like a fish, "Damn. You've been…working…" I trailed off, becoming serious as I placed a hand on her shoulder, light grin playing on my face.

"We are _so_ proud of you, Austria!" I sang, causing her to become slightly irritated. "This is a big step for you!" She pushed my hand off with a flurry of motion that I was sure wasn't necessary, sending a glance towards Lavi, and I nearly laughed. Oh, _Kami_, she _liked_ him.

"Never mind that!" Maddie exclaimed, exasperated as she frowned. "You know, I should've figured you'd eventually meet up with him.

I shrugged, chortling softly, "What can I say? I'm a magnet for funny people." The red-headed bookman-in-training's eyes sparkled, causing me to internally groan. What the _hell_ had I just caused?

Somehow, I was pretty sure that, while I didn't want to know, I was going to find out pretty quickly.

"You think I'm funny?" he cooed, happiness oozing sickly from every poor with the potency of liquid sunshine and rainbows and all of that other giddily happy stuff that I hated with a passion. Suddenly, I found myself in a bone-crushing glomp. It wasn't a hug. It far surpassed it. It was a _glomp_.

"YAY!" He shouted, no doubt earning nasty looks courtesy of the librarian who somewhat scared me more than the head nurse. "Rain thinks I'm funny! In your face, Yu!" I didn't have the heart to point out to him that Kanda wasn't even in the room, but I did have the nastiness to shove him off of me and unceremoniously onto the ground, eyebrow twitching the whole way.

"Get off me and STAY off of me, more importantly," I growled, sighing and crossing my arms before turning back to Maddie. "Anyway, _mon amie_, continue, please." Maddie grinned, yet I couldn't help noticing the slightly put-out look that crossed her face.

"_Merci beaucoup_," she responded. "Anyway, here, read this passage. It's…I don't think that it's true, but it fits the both of us." I quirked an eyebrow, but took the book from her and began to read aloud so Lavi could hear also.

The more I read, the more daunting it seemed and the harder it was to brush it off, "_Inter-Dimensional Akuma: One of the Earl's best weapons, the inter-dimensional Akuma are rarely used, as they are hard to produce compared to a normal Akuma. Their strength matches that of a level 3; the weaker ones are level 2. The Millennium Earl uses the essence from the destroyed innocence he has collected and opens an inter-dimensional portal, opening him up to one universe at random. He then picks a/several human(s) and offers them the deal to bring a loved one back, then takes their bodies once they are dead. The Earl then erases any memories of previous encounters with Akuma, letting them believe they lead a normal human lifestyle. After enough innocence essence is once again collected by the Earl, he opens the portal to the same dimension and takes them into his._

"_The inter-dimensional Akuma acts much like a time bomb. Most of the time, their personalities when in human form are extremes – raging, extremely timid, forever the optimistic, constantly depressed, etc. In society, they would be considered outcasts or the odd ones. They often like being the center of attention, and are genuinely human in terms of personality. In fact, this type of Akuma is not aware they are machines made by the Earl. They believe they are normal in every way. After a certain amount of time in the Earl's dimension, the Akuma begin to break down. They experience mood swings, and after more time, they transform into full-blown Akuma. It is the Earl's idea of a sneak attack on exorcists and the Black Order in general. There isn't a wide history of the inter-dimensional Akuma, but they are highly dangerous and need to be avoided at all costs._"

I gaped down at the page.

"It fits us, Rain," Maddie said, worry seeping palpably into her voice and oozing threateningly into the air around her. I tried my best to ignore it. "We're misfits back home, you're timid around people you don't know and fiercely maternal around our little rag-tag group. You're constantly optimistic. I'm pretty depressed most of the time. Mood swings will start next, and –." I didn't let her finish as I slammed the book shut, my side bangs shielding my face from the two of them.

"Shut up!" I shouted, not realizing that I was slowly proving her right with my actions. "Maddie, it doesn't explain us! It could explain _anybody_. If between the two of us, it explains my _mother_ better than it explains you or me. We aren't Akuma. We are completely human! I look too much like my mother to be adopted and I act too much like my dad! Maddie, come on, be _reasonable_!" I lowered my head even further, feeling the tears pricking at my eyes and pushing them back with thoughts of my niece. They wouldn't do me any good. Not now, anyway.

Before I could say any more, the book was gently taken out of my wrought-iron grasp, and I looked up to see Maddie and Lavi looking at me with sympathetic eyes, Lavi more than Maddie because she had to have been going through the exact same thing, "Come on. We need to see Bookman."

I furrowed my eyebrows, something I found myself doing a lot of lately as venom unearned and unbidden entered my voice, "Bookman? You're not going to take us to see Komui? You're not going to take us to Komui and get us kicked out?" Mentally, I gaped down at myself. What the hell was wrong with me? The passage said mood swings…no. I shook the thoughts from my head. I wasn't slowly unraveling and turning into an Akuma, and Maddie wasn't either.

Lavi sent me a cheery smile, but I knew it was fake as it didn't break through the junior bookman façade that he held so dutifully in place, "You're not dangerous right now. Besides, the old panda will know what to do if something should happen. Though, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding." He nodded to Maddie, who sent a shaky, small smile my way, nodding herself.

"Yeah," she murmured, still shook up about the whole ordeal as she obviously, finally allowed it all to hit her. "I'm sure I just read something wrong."

I took a deep breath, "You and me both, _mon amie_, you and me both."

Somehow, I wasn't so sure that any of us were right.

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><p>Final Words: Yep, Maddie's Akuma idea is really something to work with! Hope you guys like the dreaded plot bunnies! Maddie and I do! We swear!<p>

Glossary:

_Et je _vous_ déteste, mon ami - _French, means "And I hate _you_, my friend." Quite literally, too!  
><em>Mon amie - <em>"My friend", this is feminine. "_Mon ami_" is masculine, hence Rain using that with Kanda, and "_amie_" with Maddie. Proper grammar and all! They're both pronounced the same.  
><em>Merci beaucoup - <em>"Thank you very much"

You all know the drill! R&R! Maddie and I will give you cookies! I'm out of cake, sadly, everyone ate it at Thanksgiving...sorry.

~VivaciousWolf245


	7. Chapter 6 TheBlackButler

Rhiannon updates so damn _fast._

Seriously, I put it up and within a couple of hours SHE HAD HER PART UP. I just can't get over that. But I promise this is the last time I say that...

Anyway, I can vouch for the idea! It was mine, of course, and I didn't even discuss it with Rhi before I put it up...so I'm happy she likes it. I definitely do. I have no idea where it came from – maybe I was hyped up on Percocet or something when I wrote it. I can't remember...plus, as an added note, thank god both of us are taking French.

I'm really excited to get working with this. I'll be awake the rest of the weekend. Screw sleep, that's overrated. And in we goooo...

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><p>My stomach twisted and turned, and I felt nauseous. The possibilities swirled in my head. There was a chance that everything we had ever said and done was because of the Earl. Everything was mechanical. I knew I should have taken the opportunity to shove the thoughts out of my head as soon as Rain told me to, but it wasn't working. Too much hurt to think about. My throat closed up, and my stomach continued to do back flips while my mind was threatening to make me cry. But I wouldn't do it. I was not going to have a mental breakdown in the middle of the library. Instead, we all stood in silence for what seemed like hours.<p>

Lavi grasped both of our hands, insisting on leading us to Bookman's workstation, since I seemed so incapable of finding it myself. Rain agreed to follow him, but yanked her hand away. He, in turn, gave her a quick stern look, taking our wrists instead. She rolled her eyes in protest, but didn't pull back away. His hand burned where his skin touched mine.

We traveled down what seemed like thousands of long hallways, finally finding the one where Bookman rested. Lavi knocked on the door, and a faint grumble of a "Who is it" came from inside, in which Lavi responded curtly, "Me, you old panda". Aside from the brief protest before we got going, Rain was quiet the whole way. Probably mulling over those dreaded thoughts I'd just implanted in her head. This was the reason I hardly ever studied unless I needed to – I got near to perfect grades so much. Near to perfect...was it because I was just a program—?

_No, damn it; get that out of your mind. _

Impatiently, Lavi opened the door without any sort of word of approval from Bookman. He looked confused and slightly groggy, as though waking from a deep sleep. I could only imagine how the serious and grim look on his apprentice's face played into that confusion. "Lavi, what are you doing...? You already memorized your records for the day." Looking behind him, Bookman spotted us, and his eyes snapped awake. "What are you doing, bringing them into my workroom? I don't allow _anyone_ but you in here!"

Replacing an explanation, Lavi instead thrust the book at Bookman and told him to open it up to a certain page. He scanned the passage quickly and quietly, and when he was done, looked up and questioned him.

While Lavi explained in a normal and serious tone, I glanced over at Rain. She stared ahead, appearing to be watching Lavi and Bookman's conversation, but her eyes were distant. She was thinking. The redhead had long let go of our hands, and hers were resting together in front of her peacefully, as if she was handcuffed. Rain was never one to be quiet for long periods of time unless she was listening to someone else. Even then, her gaze was intent and filled with purpose. Now, she was just barely paying attention, as if she would drift off at any moment. A thought dared to cross my mind: _I've never seen her look so vulnerable. _It was as if she was falling, and the moment she would hit the ground, she'd shatter into a million pieces.

She definitely wasn't like that on the inside, though. I could almost hear the millions of questions she had scrambling against the walls of her mind. Rain wanted answers, and so did I, but we couldn't stop focusing on all of those 'what if's?' For instance, what if we really were akuma? What if my life has been an artificial toy made by the Earl? What if we're running out of time? What if—

A certain redhead interrupted our thoughts, and we both snapped into reality once more. "Rain, Maddie, we need to look into this further. As for now, keep everything to yourself. Act completely normal, alright? I know that's a hard question to be asked, but..." Lavi trailed off, his Bookman sense disintegrating slowly and his emotions resurfacing. "Don't worry, okay? I'll help you cover up any worry. We're sure it's just a common misunderstanding. You two can go. It's almost time for dinner."

The door clicked shut behind us as we were almost pushed out of the room. For a moment, all we could do is stare at the floor together, before Rain outburst loudly, "How are we supposed to keep calm? Tell me that, Lavi!" Her fist pounded the door once, but it was loud enough to gain some attention. The two men inside purposely ignored Rain's outburst. Looking over at her, she looked broken, weak. But I knew her. She wouldn't cry. Rain never cried – she merely classified it as too much of a burden.

"...I don't know about you, but I'm probably going to skip dinner," I sighed, arms crossed in front of my puffy sweatshirt. "I need some sleep, anyway. And thinking time."

"Don't be stupid," she glared at me, sending a bit of a chill through my spine. "We don't need thinking time. Neither of us does. The more we think, the more we panic, and the more things go downhill. You'll come with me to the dining hall whether you want to or not, okay? It's going to be hard, but we're going to do what Lavi said. We'll play it cool. We'll play it cool like that song you always go around singing in the hallways at school, okay?" A smirk played at her lips, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"You mean the one from West Side Story that the Jets sing after Riff dies?" I burst out happily, fists shaking in anticipation.

"That's the one," she nods, and we begin to blend in with the crowd, our nerves freshly calmed. There's nothing Rain dislikes more than me belting out music repeatedly, but she knows it soothes me. A few verses escape my lips before she punches me, hard but playful. The crowd moves easily and it calms both of us. I'm sure of it.

I'm also sure that I didn't hear Bookman say to Lavi, "Why do you care so much about those girls? They're humans." To which he didn't respond, "I care about my friends, you crazy old man."

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><p>"There you two are!" Lenalee said to us when we arrived in the dining hall. She seemed relieved to see us, to say the least. At first, my eye twitched slightly, my heart pounding louder. <em>Did she know the reason we were gone all day? <em>"Did you two forget? You had to see Komui today around three. He was waiting for you and everything."

Rain looks at my eyes for a brief second, and she recognizes the panic in them. Before I can stutter out a ridiculous excuse, she takes a small step in front of me and says for both of us, "Sorry. Maddie was in the library most of the day and I got caught up with Lavi." She sent Lenalee a reassuring smile, a little bit of guilt added to pass off the excuse. "It won't happen again."

"Needless to say, Maddie," she looks at me, my head peeking out over Rain's shoulder, "you still need your Exorcist uniform." I exhaled loudly, my face filling with color once more. I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath for so long. Komui definitely wouldn't authorize me to get a uniform if he knew we were potential threats to the Order. This was good.

"Right, sorry," I pretended to be guilty for my actions, nervously rubbing my neck. "Can I reschedule it instead for tomorrow at...5 or something?" She approved of the time, writing it down on a clipboard and then getting in line for food. We followed suit.

As usual, Rain managed to pile up her tray to what seemed like ceiling-high, while all I could really stomach at the time was some calamari. When we sat down at a table, Allen and Lenalee sitting across from us, I slipped a piece of it into my mouth. I couldn't really think much before all that came out of my mouth was a jumbled mix-up of "Oh my god, so good". Rain and Allen began to dig into their portions, while Lavi came up and sat down next to Lenalee. He gave us both grins. I turned my attention back to my calamari.

"Did you hear what happened?" Lavi turned to Lenalee, to which she shook her head. "Yu was sent away today on a mission to collect some innocence up near Siberia. It'll take him days to get there, not even counting the time for the mission. He'll be gone for about a week at least!"

To this, I saw Rain look up at Lavi with a mischievous grin on her face, soba noodles hanging out of her mouth. "Seriously? A whole week without that stuck up asshole?" The redhead nodded in confirmation, to which she spun in her seat. "Yes! I can't wait to wake up in the morning without seeing his bony pissed-off face!"

_That was a quick change of mood, _I noted nervously, pushing the thought away as soon as it entered my thoughts.

Lenalee smiled softly with a laugh, toning down the pleasure in the air around Rain and Allen and said, "Good. We could all use a little bit of a lighter atmosphere."

Rain and I both noticed this choice of words. We looked at each other, and then forward to a conversation Allen was now having with Lavi while Lenalee calmly ate her soup. Allen was talking animatedly, saying how great it would feel to not have to put up with Kanda's' incessant nonsense', as he put it. Lavi's eyes flickered over to us only for a brief second as Allen took a bite of his fried rice, confirming that yes, he noticed it too. It took a moment to realize that the smile he wore was plastered on his face, and that he was _incredibly_ good at passing it off. The happiness in his mouth didn't touch his eyes, however, which is what might have given it away. But after a while, he and Allen started joking over something, and the line between fake and real blurred.

It seemed with Lavi that line blurred a lot.

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><p>"Before you say anything," Rain said as I began to remove my sweatshirt, "could you be any less discreet about liking Lavi? Anytime he comes within a 2 yard radius, you shut up like your mouth was duck taped shut."<p>

My face heated up, but I denied it. "I don't like Lavi. He's just a nice guy, and you at least have to admit he doesn't hurt the eyes to look at." I threw my sweatshirt to the floor, revealing the usual black t-shirt with some sort of design on it. I'd happened to be wearing a Billy Joel concert t-shirt that was baggy and long, but was comfortable as hell and I wore it to sleep almost every night. "Guys are pretty much idiots, too."

"Yeah, we both know they're all idiots, but that never stops people from liking them." Rain unstrapped her boots, tossing them to the side of the bed. "I see you stealing glances at him whenever he comes in the room, too. I also noticed a little glint of jealousy and panic in your eyes when he attacked me."

"I can't like two people at once," I sighed, my thoughts drifting back to our dimension. "It's weird and it makes me feel...loose, if you know what I mean."

"It's okay, you know that, right? Liking two people at once." I could see Rain's face twist a little as she said that. She disliked the very idea of discussing two people deeply in love with each other, let alone her friend crushing on two guys at the same time. I didn't particularly enjoy it either – it felt awkward. "So for now, just enjoy your time with Lavi. It's obvious you feel _something_ for him. We won't be here forever. You can have fun with Lavi, but dream about that 'secret love' of yours in the meantime." She smirked at me, obviously pleased by the look on my frazzled face as I tried to protest loudly.

After everything was calmed down, we both sighed and continued getting ready to sleep. I slipped off my ratty plaid Converse, thinking to myself, _I'm wearing shoes that haven't even been invented yet. _The air was tense, and Rain was almost ready to lie down and knock herself out. An idea crossed my mind, and I vocalized it while I still had the chance.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to request something from Komui." This caught her attention easily. If I was requesting things, that meant that it would be something normally not allowed. "Since we obviously aren't going to relax with the whole new..." my voice trailed off, mind wandering to the Finders outside our door, "...'situation', we need something to relax ourselves in the meantime. We're being treated like Exorcists, meaning that it's possible we could be sent on a mission. I don't know how that'd work without Innocence, but it's a possibility. Plus, I want something to do in my free time. So I'm going to ask him for something." Rain nodded, her hair bouncing as she did, as confirmation to go on and tell me what it was I'd ask for. Instead, I shook my head. "You'll have to be patient."

She narrowed her eyes, throwing me a dirty look along with a pillow. I smiled brightly, sliding under the covers with a quiet 'goodnight', eager to get the night over with so I could ask for Komui in the morning. Tomorrow, I'd ask Komui if he had any instruments I could use. I hadn't played any sort of music in several days, and was becoming antsy. I didn't expect my beautiful bass clarinet or my guitar, but at least something I could work with. That was the difficult request. For Rain, I'd ask for several pencils and an unlimited amount of paper. I knew she'd be able to calm down if she could write or draw. I might be able to scratch down something, as well. After all, without my artistic ability, I was nothing. Rain fell asleep several minutes later, but my mind was too excited to calm down. With one pillow beneath my head and the other clutched in between my arms, I eventually shut my eyes for some rest.

In my dreams, I hear my violin loud and clear, a sweet vibrato calling out to me. I'm playing it for everyone in the Order, Rain included. None of them have ever heard me on my violin, and I haven't heard myself play this well before. I use swift, long bow movements, easily controlling my dynamics and vibrato as if I were reciting the alphabet. At the end of my solo performance, everyone stands and claps and cheers.

He stands up, too, in the very center of the crowd, in the front row. He isn't smiling, but his eyes are. He claps slowly and politely, just like I know he would. And I see him mouth directly to me, '_You did a good job of representing your instrument.'_

I can feel the smile on my face, even in my sleep.

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><p>...Christ, I let my emotions flow. Sorry to Rhiannon for letting my actual personal life into this, but I felt like getting it off my chest sort of anonymously. And in all honesty, I do play the violin. And bass clarinet. And guitar. I'm not kidding. I know I have musical talent, and somehow I want to let that show a little.<p>

By the way, just in case you're eternally confused, dynamics is how loud the music is, and vibrato is when a string instrument sounds like the note is shaking.

Geez, is this long enough? I compare my chapter sizes to Rhiannon's and they're so much shorter. I hope I was descriptive enough.

Please keep reading! Reviews are also appreciated. Thank you to anyone who's spent their time with reading this story.

- TheBlackButler


	8. Chapter 7: VivaciousWolf245

**Experiences**

By: VivaciousWolf245 & TheBlackButler

Disclaimer: Don't own DGM or Shrek, even though I just mentioned it.

Quick Author's Note: To be honest, I gave complete insight of my mind in this chapter. Hope you enjoy. The familial facts are true, as well as my thing of "friends are family" thing. My memory is actually pretty cool, and I do suck at math...anyway, moooving on...

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><p>The next morning, I was the first one up and I slipped out of the room quietly as not to wake Maddie up. Regardless of what I had told my blond friend, my thoughts were jumbled and couldn't cease. I sat at one of the tables, lonesome in the early, surely pre-dawn hour, with only a cup of black coffee to keep me sane. It was peaceful, with no one in the room, and it was my thinking time. Usually, I spent it in my room, but that was out seeing as how Maddie was currently occupying it and I was almost phobic of returning to the library. It was where the whole slew of crazy, probably unreliable information had spouted and I was planning on stemming the flow as quickly as I could – if not for my own sanity, then for Maddie's. My hypocritical actions were reasonable. I didn't want Maddie thinking much on anything.<p>

My mind wandered, the tight leash I usually had on it breaking. I nearly let out a bitter laugh. Was it a tight leash or mechanical autonomy? Would I ever know? Could I ever be sure? It hurt a little to know that my parents, my _best friends_ and the people that I entrusted with my _life_ on a daily basis had possibly _lied_ to me about my entire existence. Even so, I could forgive them. I cracked a small smile at the thought of my reaction to being told I was adopted. As of five days ago, I would've thrown a royal fit complete with throwing breakable and rather hard objects at my father's head.

I frowned as a thought hit me. My memory. It was nearly perfect. I didn't have a photographic memory, or even a completely eidetic one. It was like a happy medium between "normal" human memory and "extraordinary". I could remember everything taught to me from lectures and remember the gist of information read in books. I had "Herr Music", as my dad called it, and I had a rather striking flair for languages. The only thing I didn't get was math (then again, who _really did_ get math?) and I nearly laughed at the irony. Trust a possible computer to have trouble with math.

I sighed as my hands tightened around my untouched coffee mug. No, trust _me_ to have trouble with math. There wasn't any guarantee that I, or Maddie, for that matter, was in any way a machine.

"_Dagu_," I lightly cursed to myself in a murmured whisper as I finally took a sip of the rich liquid steaming in the mug. It burnt my tongue and scalded my throat as it went down, and I was sure to feel it later, but I didn't care. It distracted me, if only for a moment, as my thoughts strayed to my niece and nephew. What would they think if they knew? They'd hate me. I didn't want them to hate anyone, much less their aunt.

_No_, I corrected myself, smiling grimly as I took another, longer sip, bordering on a large gulp. _Half_-aunt and _step_-aunt, I chided. My niece's father was my half-brother from my mother and my nephew was only his step-son. To Hunter, my niece, I had only half the connection to her as my half-sister or my other half-brother. Sure, I didn't see myself as half of a relative, but, in times when I was feeling especially depressed or upset; the thoughts hit me and latched on like a stubborn tick. They simply refused to let go.

I could almost metaphorically feel the damned raincloud hovering over my head, too.

I let out another sigh, draining the mug and setting it down on the table before me, gazing at it absently, "What'cha lookin' at?" I didn't jump. Honest, I didn't.

I tensed and shot a heated glare at Lavi, the red head having, at some point, decided to conveniently take the spot across from me, "The coffee mug. Or, have you suddenly become _so_ much less observant?" The sarcastic background in the statement was either lost on the junior bookman, or simply ignored as he put a hand over his heart dramatically.

"You hurt me, Rain-chan," he whined, causing me to roll my eyes in exasperation. "I thought you said I was funny!" I rolled my eyes again, slamming my palm to my forehead.

I rose my head after a moment and tapped him lightly on the forehead, "You are. When you're not trying, that is. Besides, 'What'cha lookin' at?', isn't much of an attempt at humor, if you catch my drift." Lavi pouted again, and I was expecting some childish response. I was shocked when he quickly became serious, looking around curiously.

"Anyway, how are you holding up? You seemed to take everything worse than Maddie."

"You noticed that, huh?" I laughed shortly and bitterly. I couldn't try to hide it from him. I should've realized that he was observant. Though they probably didn't call it profiling here, that was exactly something that he was probably trained in doing.

Lavi shrugged as he leaned on his folded arms on the table, "Yeah, but you hid it better than Maddie. I noticed that when you're upset or thoughtful, you draw into yourself. I also noticed that you told Maddie not to think about it, yet, here you are. Thinking about it. Isn't that slightly hypocritical?" I stared down at the coffee cup for a moment longer before looking up into the bookman-in-training's poison colored eyes.

"I want to protect her," I mumbled after a minute. I didn't like expressing my feelings much, but I figured that keeping it all bottled up wasn't going to do anything, and telling Maddie would only hurt her in the long run, possibly. Bookman was slightly too cryptic for my taste, so that only left Lavi to vent to. "She's all I feel I really have left, as cliché and horribly clingy that sounds. She's not my friend. She's my family. And I will do anything for my family, even if it means giving my life…"

"Even your sanity," Lavi finished for me, nodding. I looked at him curiously. It seemed there was more to him than met the eye at first. I nearly laughed as the "Shrek" onion-explanation, as I called it, entered my mind.

I nodded in confirmation, "Even my sanity, yes. Or, what's left of it. My mother has – _had_, for all I know, mental problems. I don't know if I inherited them or not. I'm…I'm scared that I'm going to unravel. I mean, my mother never really did, but she had medication to keep her stable. Here…I wouldn't have that. With this whole Akuma thing, I don't want to leave Maddie to fend for herself just because my mind is a jumbled mess."

Lavi sat back as far as he could with back-less seats. The sun still had yet to rise, and I noticed it quickly. I had, apparently, gotten up earlier than I had realized. It didn't really matter. I wasn't tired.

The boy across from me shrugged, "Worrying about it isn't going to do you any good. If there's anything I've learned, it's that everything happens for a reason. You can't change fate. You can try, but how do you know that the outcome isn't exactly what was desired in the first place?" I let his words sink in before a small smile broke out on my face. Yet another thing I had thought of before.

"You don't," I admitted softly, glad for another intellectual mind to talk to. It wasn't that Maddie wasn't smart – far from it. It was just that she acted so much, pardon my wording, stupider than she really was. It was a naïve nature, and one that I hoped to be able to preserve her from for as long as I could.

Even if it eventually meant giving my own life.

Lavi reached across the table and ruffled the top of my head, causing me to lightly glare at him. I couldn't manage a full one. I saw him as a friend now. I saw him as family, "No one here will let either of you turn into Akuma. Just because you show some of the signs doesn't necessarily mean that it's exactly what you have. No offence, but Rain-chan and Maddie-chan aren't scary enough to be Akuma, though Rain-chan comes close!" His attempt at humor didn't faze me, only made me freeze up and stare at the table in dawning realization.

"'…_a tight leash or mechanical autonomy?_'" I murmured, causing Lavi to look at me curiously as my eyes widened. I grasped the junior bookman tightly by his forearm, disregarding all of my usual rules of personal space in favor of the small epiphany occurring in the gray matter within the confines of my skull…or…what I _hoped_ was gray matter…

_No, _I thought quickly, shaking the thoughts out of my head, _bad Rene. No more dark, dank, and depressing thoughts for you!_

"That's it, Lavi! That's it!" I exclaimed, brown eyes surely gleaming with joyous hope, something I hadn't felt in what seemed to be forever. "If I'm an Akuma, inter-dimensional or no, how can I have Innocence? Dark Matter and Innocence would cancel each other out, not to be able to exist peacefully with one another! I need to see Hevlaska!" Lavi nodded and jumped up with me. In my hopeful haze, I hadn't realized that I was glomping him until it was already too late. By then, I just mentally shrugged and decided to go with it.

"Dude!" I exclaimed, clapping him good-naturedly on the shoulder once I'd come to my senses and released him. Oh, Maddie was going to kill me for that and I was going to enjoy teasing the hell out of her. "You are _awesome_ and I can't thank you enough! Now, mush! I need to figure this out." We rushed towards the door, but when I didn't move towards the staircase like the red head was doing, he stopped and looked at me curiously.

"What're…?" I cut him off as I laid a hand on the wooden door of the bedroom Maddie and I shared, glaring irritably at the Finders.

"I can't go down there without Maddie," I explained hurriedly, glaring even harder at the Finders until they looked away uneasily, sure to conveniently "forget" any of the information spilling so uncharacteristically carelessly from my lips, "I can't go down there without her. I need to check her, too. Oh, boy, is waking her up going to be fun…" The sarcasm that dripped from my voice was enough to make Lavi crack a smile as I gently pushed on the door. I winced as it creaked. It was now or never.

I swung the doors open, knowing that within the time span of the next half-hour or so, the information I learned would either make or break the rest of my life. Was I ready?

I'd like to believe that I was…

Was Maddie ready?

I sure hoped so, because I sure as hell wasn't going to give her a chance to protest.

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><p>Final Words: Hope you liked the deep insight. It's late. I have to go to bed or I'll be yelled at.<p>

You all know the drill. R&R! Maddie and I appreciate it!

~VivaciousWolf245


	9. Chapter 8: TheBlackButler

oh god i'm so exciteddd screw beginnings let's jump right in

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><p>More than anything in the world, I hate being woken up. I always have and always will. Whether it's for school, music practice, family trips, or anything in general, I've <em>always<em> hated it. So when Rain burst in our door at four in the morning (much more alarming, she was already awake) and shook my shoulder, I was furious. Of course, furious, but too tired to even bother. I instead rolled over with a groan.

"Maddie, wake up. You have to wake up. I have a solution to all of our problems," she said over and over, her fingers slowly pressing into my shoulder. "You _have_ to come with me. This isn't an option."

I sat up groggily, rubbing my burning eyes. My hair must've been sticking straight up again, as it does almost every morning, because that's where her eyes flew to first. "Solution to what...? The akuma thing...?"

She hushed me impatiently, the door still a jar open with the Finders most likely recording our every word. "Shhh! And yes, that problem. If you come with me, I promise I'll make you some hot chocolate when we get back, okay? It won't take that long. An hour at most." Rain's eyes flickered every which way, so I could see she was up to something. I peered behind her, seeing Lavi in the hallway, and narrowed my eyes at her. She didn't have to guess to know why. "Yes, yes, I was up at ungodly-hour-o' clock talking to your junior-bookman crush. Now come with me, I'll explain on the way!"

Protesting was impossible, it seemed, as it always was with Rain. Once she had her heart set on something, telling her no was the last thing anyone wanted. As we left the room, I glanced over at a little clock on the wall. Four twelve am. I remember thinking last night that I'd wanted to get the night over with, but this soon? We'd only gone to bed about five hours ago. Even then, it took me an entire hour just to get to sleep. I could not run safely on four hours of sleep.

Lavi, upon seeing me and my atrocious bed head, chuckled and commented, "Well, don't you look nice this morning, Maddie-chan. Have you done something to your hair?" Upon this, my face flushed to a deep red, and Rain punched his arm, commenting that we didn't have much time before the hallways filled up and to lead us to Hevlaska.

Hevlaska...

Oh no. She was not doing this.

"Rain..." she tugged me down the hallway, realizing she'd blown her own cover and that I'd figured it out. My tone suggested imminent rage, and she knew it. I might not've been as scary or threatening as her, but I knew how to use my anger. Rain knew I had a lot of stress bottled up, and she was about to be victim number one. "If you are doing what I think you're doing...you can let go of my hand...and let me go back to our room. And you can follow me."

"We have to, we have to!" She insisted, turning at me briefly to show a surprisingly desperate expression. A moment later, she regained her composure and looked ahead to Lavi, who was leading us up another spiral staircase. "This is the only way we can be sure we're not akuma! Do you want to hear my theory or not?" Before I could protest to say 'Hell no, I don't want to hear your theory, I want you to come to your senses', she continued on anyway. "Akuma consist of machinery, a soul, a skeleton and dark matter. Innocence is the exact opposite of dark matter. There can't be both! They could never be able to live peacefully inside one's body. So if this works and Hevlaska can successfully implant Innocence in our bodies, not only will it prove we're human, but it means we become Exorcists of the Black Order!" Rain was shaking with anticipation, dragging me up the stairs. My mind processed her entire explanation, and by the time it was done we'd reached the top of the staircase. I stopped moving. She turned around, continuing to try and pull me forward, but I ignored it.

"You...didn't think the consequences through, did you?" I questioned her. Rain regained her senses, pausing for a moment to listen to me. "Rain...there's no guarantee this will work. Innocence implants are rarely successful. If we really are akuma, the Innocence and the dark matter will battle constantly inside of us, causing us daily pain or even early death." Her eyes saddened slightly, being unable to control her emotions any longer. "And if we aren't akuma, there's a possibility that the implant won't work. We could suffer and lose all of our senses, even our minds. And in the best case scenario, the Innocence implant goes perfectly and we aren't akuma, and we become Exorcists of the Order." She failed to see where I was going with this last one.

"The Black Order would never let us go back to our dimension."

I could almost physically see her heart sink in her chest. Rain hadn't considered that. If we were powerful enough to become Exorcists, the Black Order would definitely refuse to let us go home. The war between the Millennium Earl and the Black Order staked far too much for two capable fighters to return back to their own dimension. She murmured to herself, "Caught between a rock and a hard place...do we risk going back home as demons that might eventually explode, or save ourselves and never be able to return?"

In front of us, Lavi was studying everything he could get a grip on. Every word we'd said was recorded in his mind permanently, but he shifted back to his regular self quickly. "If you're going to make a decision, do it quickly. The Finders will be up soon. There are a lot of them and the halls will fill up immediately." He could see that if he didn't say anything, we'd stay here far too long, saying and doing nothing.

Rain leaned in, whispering into my ear. I knew I had to stay calm and collect, because if she was whispering, she obviously didn't want Lavi to hear it. I kept my expression calm as she said, "We _will_ find a way to escape. We have too much to live for back in our dimension. I have my niece and nephew and you have that Drum Major boy. They can't follow us. They would immediately get culture shock. Don't worry, Maddie, okay?"

Even now, she still tried to protect me. It made me feel weak, but in the long run, I knew I was. I was far too sensitive for any of this. I hadn't really sat down and let any of it sink in that I was in another dimension with a very slim possibility of every getting home. Plus, Rain really knew how to get to me. The words 'drum major' hit right at my heart. I knew I couldn't go home with the possibility that I was a mechanical soul bent on destruction. I couldn't risk hurting so many people.

She waited patiently for me to respond, but realized after a few moments she didn't have to. The flames in my eyes must've given it away. I was determined and ready to go. Hopefully, if we had been secretive enough, Lavi didn't understand a word of what had just happened. Rain's back had been to him, so he couldn't see her lips moving. I hadn't said anything, so there was no chance there. We were safe. We would be fine.

"On to Hevlaska!" Rain charged, both of us now dashing across the hallway. Lavi caught the drift and raced ahead of us, his boots loudly stomping the floor and echoing in the empty halls. I imagine there would be a complaint on our behalf, but now wasn't the time to worry. Running away from the problem itself was weak. I would be brave. Not for myself, but for Rain. For my parents. For my friends. For my music.

For just about everyone but myself.

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><p>Hevlaska agreeing to do an Innocence implant was the last thing I'd ever imagined. She needed Komui's authorization to do so, so Lavi ran to his office to get permission. He returned about ten minutes later, saying Komui gave a rather grumbled approval.<p>

The shroud of white asked us in that soothing yet frighteningly calm voice of hers who would go first. I knew Rain would volunteer first. I couldn't let her do that, though. I'd be brave, even if it meant accidently hurting her bravery in the long run. It seemed I was incredibly caught up in being brave – or rather, just trying to avoid being cowardly.

"I'll go first," I shouted in the empty, pitch black room, raising my hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rain open her mouth to protest, eyes alarmed. I also saw Lavi glance at me, and then whisper something to Rain. I pretended not to hear it. She picked me up with a while tentacle, and I saw an Innocence emerge from her body. I tried not to be fazed by it, but it was beautiful. It was as bright as the sun, maybe even more. It burned my eyes to look at, yet I couldn't look away. The Innocence moved closer, closer, closer still...

And everything became white.

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><p>When I awoke, the white slowly dimming to show the brightly lit hospital ward I was in, my first reaction was panic. I sat up quickly, alarmed to find that when I moved, my abdomen was not struck by pain, but instead a holy feeling inside. It felt good. I wanted to experience it again, but a nurse quickly rushed over to my bedside and gently laid me back down, insisting that I rested more.<p>

I did as I was told; I lied down and stared up at the ceiling, trying to let everything sink in. I was still alive and breathing. That was definitely good sign number one. I wasn't experiencing any pain, which was the second good sign. However, even though I felt fine (better then fine, actually), my body was covered in bandages at the most random of places. My right eye was covered by the gauze, along with my right arm, lower abdomen, and both of my legs. As everything sank in, I came to the conclusion slowly that I was in a hospital.

Memories flashed before my eyes of my own dimension, and I began to stir. I _hated_ hospitals. I despised them more then I hated being woken up. Hospitals and nurseries were where my mother and sister had taken up work. I remember being a little girl and thinking that I would have to continue on the legacy of working in the medical field, but as I grew older, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was too much to bear. Even my own mother told me every time I went to get a check-up, "Don't touch anything. If you aren't sick when you come in, you will be when you come out."

Hospitals were filled with the sickly and dying. Whenever I stepped foot in one, I knew I was somehow involved with the sickly and dying, whether it was me or someone close to me. The ones I visited were filled with coughing children and frightened parents. Worst of all, I had to remember the night that I went to the emergency room for extreme pain. It was the most traumatic night of my life. I was there from eight at night until six in the morning. I was in constant pain, and every now and then I drifted off into an hour of sleep before someone came in and woke me. That was why I hated hospitals. It was also why I hated the smell of raspberries and fruit punch, but that was another, more grotesque story.

It also came to me after those horrible flashbacks that I was alone. Not in the hospital ward; there were others around me, too, whether they had a broken leg or were coughing up a storm. I didn't hear Rain anywhere. Then I thought, _maybe she's asleep. _So I sat up and looked all around the long room, but I didn't see any sign of her. That worried me more than anything. I wanted confirmation that we'd done well and that everything would be okay, and Rain would be the person to give it to me. So I tossed my blankets off of my bandaged legs and slowly got up.

As soon as I got up, I collapsed to the floor. Nurses surrounded me, and the flashbacks quickly ensued.

They all hauled me back onto my bed, telling me that I wouldn't be able to walk correctly for several days. That was reassuring. I felt fine when I stood, brief as it was. In fact, it was that same feeling I got when I sat up. A warm feeling, like I was glowing in every way imaginable. I couldn't find any way to comprehend it. It seemed I'd just have to patiently wait for someone to tell me.

Komui appeared about a half an hour later, whining about being woken up just to come down to the hospital ward to talk with the head nurse about us. He held a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, and he smiled warmly and reassuringly at me. "Well, congratulations, Madison." I quirked an eyebrow at the use of my real name, but he continued on. "Both yours and Rain's Innocence implants were a complete success." He tapped my left leg that was covered by the blanket, and I found myself wincing. "However, you have minimal bone damage in your arm, right hand, pelvic area, and legs."

"Then how come my eye is covered, too?" I questioned, gesturing to it only to find that my hand was also covered in gauze.

"Oh, that's because during the procedure your head started bleeding." A strain of panic struck me, and he laughed at my expression. "Don't worry, though. It was near the end, so we got you out in time to patch you up. You didn't lose that much blood, if any." I sighed in relief, flopping back to my pillow that was propped up too high for me. I didn't feel like moving, though. "You should only experience the lack of these areas for several days, however. We've yet to discover what type of Innocence you have. Once the healing process is done, we'll be sure to find out."

All of this reassured me. The Innocence implant was a complete success. I was now an Exorcist of The Black Order. I would be of use to everyone around me. I was brave and didn't disappoint Rain—...Rain.

I looked up to Komui, seeing his smile stay firmly in place. "Komui...where's Rain?"

As if to answer my question, I heard impatient shouting out in the hallway, only to see a brunette girl with brown, furious eyes be wheeled in on some type of gurney, almost all of her limbs covered in bandage.

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><p>Shit. I wrote so. Damn. Much.<p>

And owowowowow...I was lying on my ankle wrong...that hurt...

Anyway, you guys know the drill – R&R, we both appreciate it! Thank you for reading, and we hope you continue to do so.

- TheBlackButler


	10. Chapter 9: VivaciousWolf245

**Experiences**

By: VivaciousWolf245 & TheBlackButler

Disclaimer: don't own DGM!

Quick Author's Note: I know it seems a little cut off, but there's some things that I want to leave Maddie to explain. Well, then, let's just get right to it!

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><p>I groaned. Pain hit me first. Was the pain a good thing? It meant that I was still alive. Had the implants worked? I could remember Maddie offering to go first, much to my completely angered maternal instincts screaming at me to yank her back and tie her down so she wouldn't. Every wince as she started screaming hit me and I hoped briefly that she didn't remember any of the pain. It was excruciating. When Hevlaska had grabbed me, I ignored the height and focused on the light that had surrounded me. The pain was worse than I'd ever felt in my life and, upon hearing one of my arms snap, I felt a little sad that my record of no broken bones had been crushed and spit on.<p>

As I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling rushing by me. Lavi, Bookman, and a few nurses were rushing me down a hallway in a gurney. My brown eyes glanced around, Lavi noticing I was awake. I ignored him. Maddie was missing. Where was Maddie? Why wasn't she there? What happened?

"Rain-chan's awake!" Lavi exclaimed softly, a faux grin playing on his face. I didn't respond. I could see the blurred line between real and fake. It was sad, I thought, that one of my friends had to pretend all the time. He really loved his job. It was almost a shame. He'd have made a wonderful history teacher – the funny ones always taught you the most, it seemed.

"No shit, Sherlock," I groaned, trying to sit up only to have one of the nurses sternly push me down and waves of pain to hit me from my arms. "Where's Maddie? Did everything go okay?" Bookman gave me a firm nod of confirmation to my latter question, but no response to the first, and I glared at him. It helped a little, regardless of the fact that it probably did nothing to faze him with his old age. He'd probably seen more than anyone should in a lifetime.

Lavi grinned almost comically at me, and I could tell that it was real, "Everything was a complete success! We just have to wait a little to figure out the Innocence type, thought judging by the cuts on your limbs, we're betting parasitic." I growled as I began thrashing. The nurse wouldn't let me sit up!

"Damn it, Lavi, Bookman!" I hissed, venom in my voice as I ignored the blood seeping through the bandages as the wounds there reopened, "why the hell won't someone give me a straight answer! Where the hell is my _SISTER_!" We entered the infirmary after a few more unintelligible shouts, and I allowed myself a small bit of comfort when I saw Maddie sitting up ( I growled a little at that ) and talking to Komui. When she looked over at me, I thrashed a little more, glaring heatedly at her.

With a strength I didn't know I had, I pulled myself away from the nurse restraining me, much to the chagrin of the junior bookman, and stormed towards her. I ignored the pain in my legs and the protest of the other nurses, grabbing her firmly by her shoulders and surely shaking her head off of them. "What the HELL were you thinking!" I was in her face and shouting at her, and I didn't really care. My worry outweighed, once more, my well-defined sense of personal space.

She tried to avoid my gaze, grumbling enviously under her breath, "You can walk…lucky…" I didn't care, shaking her more and sure to cause her whiplash that she didn't need. I didn't care. She was stupid, naïve, irrational, and she rushed into things without thinking!

"The next time you do something like that, if you don't die, I'll kill you myself!" I screamed, acting uncharacteristically, not that I cared much. "You act irrationally and you worry us all!" Maddie looked at me confused.

Weakly, she pointed out, "You do that on a daily basis…" Groaning in exasperation, I glanced away for a few minutes. Kami, why couldn't I talk any sense into her?

I shook her a little more, much to the displeasure of the nurse that was standing behind her, "Damn it! Don't you realize why I do those things? It's because I want to keep you safe! I act reckless so you don't have to! You're my friend! You're my family, my sister! Damn it, Maddie, don't you see? We may not be related by blood, but we're related through _experiences_! You, and Isaac, and Tristan, and Marielle, and Katt, and everyone else are my family because of what we've all been through! It may not be much, but we've all been with each other through everything! You've all been with me through the crap with my mom, all of my family drama, I've been with you guys through your relationship problems that I never understood but helped with anyway! I don't want anything to happen to my family so I put myself out there so you don't have to!" Maddie stared at me for a moment and I felt my mind betray me and flashback to right after Maddie had volunteered herself.

_I watched, furious as Maddie offered herself to go first. I opened my mouth to protest, but Lavi's hand on my shoulder restrained me from lunging forward and yanking her back. He leaned forward as he was standing slightly behind me and began whispering in my ear._

_ "Let her go," he said calmly, in a manner that made me slightly envious of his uncanny ability to keep himself in check. "Rain-chan, don't you realize that you aren't the only one wanting to protect someone you care about?" My mouth open and closed like a fish. I wanted to respond, but I had no words that I could respond with. Instead, I closed my mouth, drew my hands close to myself, and stepped back slightly, watching as a member of my surrogate family was drawn up by Hevlaska's transparent tentacles. _

I felt the guilt of my almost mary-sue-ish selflessness as Maddie responded, "You think I didn't know that? I'm tired of you taking everything. Regardless of how tough you try to appear, you're _human_ just like the rest of us and humans can only take so much." I winced, now starting to feel any adrenaline wearing off and the pain of the cuts and my broken left (thank god, I was primarily right handed) arm shifting with the movement I shouldn't have been making.

I let a small, wolfish grin cross my face, "Yeah, and while everyone has a breaking point, even physical lines are determined by the mental ones. Ah, who cares? I can't stay mad for too long. Truce?" My blond friend stared at me with confusion before shaking her head and giving me a high-five. My actions were quick and my mood change not-so-subtle, but she knew that it was just how I was.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she grumbled, turning to Komui with an almost comical air about her. "Now, can I get some food, please?" I nearly laughed, but was dragged away by the nurses into another room. They weren't happy with me, and Lavi laughed boisterously as he followed.

"You're going to need to rest for a few days. With the Innocence, your wounds will heal a bit faster, within a few days, but if you strain or reopen them again, it'll take even longer," Lavi explained at my confused expression as I was helped into one of the beds. The room was lonesome, shrouded in a mysterious solitude. They were trying to separate the two of us, and I could understand it. If one of us reacted, they didn't want the other to know about it and end up harming ourselves more in the long-run in an attempt to get to the other. It made sense, no matter how annoyed it made me.

As Allen stepped into the doorway, Lavi bid me a good day and slipped out to go talk to Maddie. Lenalee followed behind the white-haired Exorcist and they began chatting good-naturedly with me. I thanked it, welcomed it. I needed the distraction, and I was sure that Maddie would appreciate Lavi and Bookman talking to her about something hopefully unrelated to the whole fiasco we'd just endured.

If only to take her mind off of it for a minute.

* * *

><p>About three days later, Maddie and I were finally allowed out of our hospital-like confinements. Maddie seemed eternally relieved, and I nearly laughed at her. I knew of her dislike for hospitals and, myself, I didn't understand them. I loved hospitals, but that was probably something to do with the fact that I was in and out of them so much as a visitor because my family had ridiculous medical problems from time to time.<p>

I had gotten my bags from my room and slipped into an outfit from my dimension instead of my Exorcist uniform, tired of it and needing a change. It was just a pair of flair jeans tucked into black, down snow boots that ended just below the knee, a thin, white, long sleeved shirt with an intricate cross-and-rose design (nothing like a rose cross, just a fancy gold cross surrounded by antique-like black and light pink roses), and an extremely baggy, black hoodie with drawstrings through the hood and F.B.I written on the front before a faded fingerprint. The long sleeves of my shirt peaked out, a hole for my thumb in the rose-printed cuffs as it ended by my knuckles. I loved the shirt, but it was too thin for the chill of the tower and the fuzzy inside of my sweat shirt was just too inviting. I left my hair down to cover the goose-bumped skin of my neck and walked out to meet Maddie in the hallway. As if we'd switched, she was wearing her newly acquired Exorcist uniform (no skirt, as much as I envied her).

I grinned, "We switched, eh?" She laughed with me as we med Allen and Lenalee to head down to Hevlaska's chamber. Much to the truth of Lavi's words, our wounds healed rather quickly, though I still had a cast on my upper left arm, and on my forearms, calves, and right in the center of my collarbone were glowing, crystal crosses made of Innocence. Maddie held no apparent signs of Innocence, and so it was suspected that I was a parasitic type and she was equip. The trip to see Hevlaska would hopefully clear up everything.

…_Hopefully_ being the operative word…

* * *

><p>Final Words: Yep, going to get fairly interesting from here on out, so stay tuned, and, well, you know the drill!<p>

R&R!

~VivaciousWolf245


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